A method of initializing the position and direction of a mining vehicle,
and a mining vehicle. An environmental model and route points are stored
in a control system of the vehicle. The environment of the vehicle is
scanned, and scanned points are generated based on obstacles observed.
The control system is arranged to determine coordinates of the scanned
points by using the position of the route points within a search range
and at least one direction. The coordinates calculated for the scanned
points are compared with the environmental model. Such a route point and
direction are selected as initial values for the mining vehicle, by which
the generated coordinates of the scanned points best match the
environmental model.